Tinguely's Dream, Electro-mechanical Automaton

The Automata / Automaton Blog is pleased to present you with a special sneak preview of Tom Haney's new work. The piece is named Tinguely's Dream after one of his favorite kinetic artist, Jean Tinguely.

The automaton features a figure riding a strange and wonderful bike. As seen in the video above, an electric motor powers 3 non-concentric wheels and gives the bike and its rider a gentle rocking motion. Watch someone riding a bike and you'll appreciate this beautiful subtlety.

Tom Haney is working on similar pieces for an upcoming gallery show at Mason Murer Fine Art in Atlanta. The show opens September 26th, 2008 and runs through November 7th, 2008. He plans to have 10 to 12 electro-mechanical pieces. Most of the pieces will incorporate antique and/or found objects as well as electric lights.

Stumble It!

Mythical Automata Shop: THE HOUSE OF SYBIL

Maria and Michael start have just competed this piece for an upcoming exhibition.

From the Artists:
"The building itself is a living entity with an eye for its sight and a heaving floor for breath. The cellar imprisons innocence, whilst for those on the first floor conventional life has departed with the knife. Within the shop the Alchemist works with complete precision of word and deed. Like a watchmaker, he first re-assembles the spirit, and then the careful application of electrical fluence allows the invigoration of the automata, which you see for sale in the ground floor Salon of The House of Sybil."

This is one of 24 pieces that will form the exhibition in the Elissa Cristall Gallery opening on the 23rd of May, 2008.

Stumble It!

Automatons: Museu de Joguets i Autòmats

The Museum of Toys and Automata (Museu de Joguets i Autòmats) is located in the town of Verdú, outside of Barcelona.

The museum's collection is composed of over 1000 pieces and features many vintage automata. Most of the automata were manufactured in France during the last decades of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.

This video clip features some of the pieces in the collection...and the song is really good!

Here is a link to Museu de Joguets i Autòmats.

Stumble It!

Gina Kamentsky Exhibit: Mechanical Confections

Gina Kamentsky is profiled in the Volume 13 of MAKE magazine (the same issue with my short book review of Dunninger's Complete Encyclopedia of Magic).

Gina Kamentsky is an multi-talented sculptor, animator, toy designer, inventor, musician, and teacher. Kamentsky works primarily with found materials and metal to create unique mechanical toys and kinetic sculptures.

Her solo exhibition, Gina Kamentsky: Mechanical Confections, will be on exhibition in Fuller Craft Museum's Daniel Tarlow gallery through November 9, 2008. She will be on site on March 2nd at 2:00 as part of Fuller Craft Museum's series, Objectively Speaking.

Here's a link to Fuller Craft Museum exhibits page.

Stumble It!

MAKE Finds Wood Automata @ NYC Toy Fair 2008

Phillip Torrone of MAKE Magazine is in New York City covering Toy Fair, 2008. Among his favorite finds this year: Timberkits wood automata!

Here's a link to his post about TimberKits at The NYC Toy Fair, 2008.

Stumble It!

Automaton by Maillardet at Franklin Institute Draws

The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia -- home to Henri Maillardet's drawing automaton -- has recently updated their site.

In addition to the video seen above, there is some (remarkable) history about the piece, images of drawings that the automaton creates, and shots of the intricate clockwork brass mechanism.

Learn more about Maillardet's Automaton at The Franklin Institute.

Stumble It!

PhantasieMechanik Exhibition at phaeno

Head over to The Mechanical Blog to read their recent posting about an upcoming exhibition in Wolfsburg, Germany.

The show will include 40 pieces from Cabaret Mechanical Theatre and 18 from American artist Arthur Ganson. There will also be works by Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre, Eduard Bersudsky, and Norman Tuck.

Read all of the details about The PhantasieMechanik Exhibit.

Stumble It!

The Zelinsky Collection Viewable on DVD

The Musée Mécanique, located in San Francisco, is a collection of hundreds of musical and mechanical machines. It is certainly worth a visit.

If you can't visit San Francisco any time soon, there is still a way for you to see this amazing collection: The Musée Mécanique presents The Zelinsky Collection DVD.

This 68 minute video is hosted by the man who assembled the collection, Edward Zelinsky. Mr. Zelinsky takes the viewer on a one-on-one tour of The Musée telling you a bit about each machine, where it came from, and how it was acquired.

Some of the machines the viewer will see on this DVD include:

* Many orchestrians and nickelodeons
* A beautiful mechanical horse
* Fortune telling machines
* Mechanical games
* A large and detailed carnival scene
* A vast barnyard scene with dozens of animated figures
* Funny scenes like a drunkard in a graveyard

Viewers also get to see some of the mechanisms that power these marvelous machines.

Overall, the lighting and camera-work are well done. This DVD is the next best thing to visiting the museum itself.

The video is something of a tribute to a man that truly loved coin-operated machines. We are in Edward Zelinsky's debt for assembling this collection and for ensuring that the machines continued to function. His son, Daniel Zelinsky, now oversees the exhibit. Thanks to these men visitors today can drop a coin into these machines -- as people have for decades -- to see what mechanical magic they perform.

Here is where you can purchase The Musée Mécanique presents The Zelinsky Collection DVD.

Stumble It!

Musee National De Monaco - Automata Collection

A reader of The Automata / Automaton Blog has kindly directed me to a fantastic museum with automata.

If you find yourself in the south of France and like automata, the Musee National De Monaco is an incredible museum.

They have a collection of Parisian automata from the latter half of the 19th Century.

I am told they offer a tour in which the guide operates many of the automata for visitors.

Visit the web site for the Musee National De Monaco.

Stumble It!

Musee Mecanique: The Zelinsky Collection

The Musee Mecanique is one of the world's largest privately owned collections of coin-operated mechanical musical instruments and antique arcade machines.

A collection of over 300 items including orchestrions, coin operated pianos, antique slot machines, and animations, small bird boxes and even a steam-powered motorcycle were collected by the late Edward Galland Zelinsky (1922-2004).

The good news is that the majority of this vast private collection is on public display and you can see the machines in action!

If you are visiting the San Francisco area, The Musee Mecanique is located on Pier 45 at the foot of Taylor Street in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. And hey...admission is free.

The Musee Mecanique has an excellent web site providing some history of the collection, an online shop, and many wonderful photos of their attractions.

Stumble It!

Dug North Monster No. 1 Work-in-Progress

I am thrilled to be part of a an exhibit in my home town called: Made in Harvard.

The show is being put on by an organization called "For Art's Sake", an association supporting art in the Harvard schools and community.

I will be showing a functional mechanical prototype of a piece with the working title of Monster No. 1. The automaton features a small, but presumably nasty little monster who is struggling to break free of the chains that keep him from creating who-knows-what-kind of havoc.

The card of the front of the motorized display case reads:

Monster No. 1
being a model conceived & created for use in the evaluation of
form, design, performance, et cet. of divers examples to follow
by Mr. D. North - MECHANICIAN

Stay tuned for a short video clip in the near future!

Stumble It!

Hitchcocks' Automata Exhibit @ Bridport Art Centre

Hitchcocks of Bath is a web site / gallery that features British mechanical toys, German folk toys, cut outs, and hand made wooden toys for children.

Here is a page showing automata that are currently on display and for sale at the Bridport Art Centre in Dorset, UK.

Among the distinguished automata artists are: Jan Zalud, Wanda Sowry, Robert Race, Simon Venus, Ian McKay, Peter Markey, Rachel Larkins, Ron Fuller, John Grayson, and Melanie Tomlinson.

Visit the page for Hitchcocks' at the Bridport Art Centre 2007

Stumble It!

Automata Exhibits in the USA, Summer 2007

Want to see some automata in the USA this summer? Here's a few exhibits to consider:

1 - Cabaret Mechancial Theatre has a touring exhibit currently in Salina, Kansas
http://www.rollinghillswildlife.com/museum/gallery.html

2 - The Murtogh D. Guinness Collection can be seen in Morristown, New Jersey
http://www.morrismuseum.org/collections/guinness/guinness.html

3 - The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is home to Maillardet's famous drawing automaton
http://fi.edu/pieces/knox/automaton/

4 - The Charles River Museum of Industry in Waltham, Massachusetts has a small international showing of contemporary automata (with a Dug North included!)
http://www.crmi.org/

Stumble It!

Automaton: A Boybot & His Dogbot by Dug North

I have made some additions and put the finishing touches on an automaton I started a few years ago: A Boybot and His Dogbot.

Stylistically, this piece is different than my other automata in that I have used geometric shapes for the figures and have decided to leave the wood unfinished. I experimented with painting the figures, but they lost too much of their charm.

The piece is on public display at The Charles River Museum of Industry in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA.

Here's a link to detailed pictures of the figures and the mechanism from A Boybot and His Dogbot.

Stumble It!

Nemomatic show this Friday - Berkeley, CA

Sculptor and automata-maker Gould Nemo (Nemomatic) will be participating in the group show: "Recovery" at the ACCI Gallery in Berkeley, CA, USA along with other artists who work with recycled material.

This will be the first opportunity to see his new Giant Robot sculpture before it is permanently installed at a private residence.

Also on display will be his amazing Giant Squid automaton.

Learn more at the News section of Nemomatic.com

Stumble It!

Great Review of CMT Exhibit with Photo Sets

Over at the Pixelsumo blog, the author has a great review of a visit to the newly opened Cabaret Mechanical Theatre exhibit at Kinetica Museum that I told you about here.

The post features links to a huge set of flickr photos of the show itself.

Check out this great review of the CMT show at Pixelsumo.

Stumble It!

Cabaret Mechanical Theatre at Kinetica Museum

If you can be or will be in the UK between April 6, 2007 and May 5, 2007 you must visit Kinetica Museum located at Old Spitalfields Market, London.

Kinetica will be hosting a major retrospective show on Cabaret Mechanical Theatre which includes more than 80 automata and a number of previously unseen works.

The show will feature artists including: Ron Fuller, Arthur Ganson, Tim Hunkin, Will Jackson, Pierre Mayer, Keith Newstead, Paul Spooner, and Carlos Zapata. (Many of my favorite artists are in that list!)

The exhibition will also include a series of talks and hands-on workshops by the founders of CMT and prominent British automata artists. Speakers will include: Tim Hunkin, Sue Jackson, Sarah Alexander, Will Jackson and Paul Spooner.

Learn more at CMT's Mechanical Blog or visit Kinetica Museum's site

---

Cabaret Mechanical Theatre (CMT) dates back to 1979, when a handful of automaton artists began to work together as an artists collective.

The group, founded in 1983 in Falmouth by Sue Jackson, moved to London’s Covent Garden shortly thereafter, where their collection of automata immediately received both critical and popular acclaim.

They produced a book (shown at left) that teaches about basic mechanics and the construction of automata.

Stumble It!

A Cabinet of Curiosities

I was fortunate enough to see a DVD recently released by Cabaret Mechanical Theatre -- home to many great automata-makers. I was delighted to see work by CMT artists old and new. The DVD covers many items currently available in their online store. For example:

• Automata from Fourteen Balls Toy Company


• Automata by Peter Markey


• Automata by Carlos Zapata


• An automaton by Pierre Mayer


• Automata by John Lumbus


• Amazingly tiny automata


• Sculptural work by Robert Race


• Automata by Simon Venus


• Paper automata by Walter Ruffler

Stumble It!

20 Antique Automata Sold from Merritt Collection

Sale Of Mary Merritt Museum Dolls And Toys Nears $2.5 Million

From the article:
Approximately 20 automata by premium name manufacturers were offered. Leading the group, a circa 1875 Roullet et Descamps boy on a clockwork tricycle earned $34,100 against an estimate of $15/18,000. A rare 29-inch-tall girl automaton holding a toy theater and accompanied by a cat in a wicker basket, also by Roullet et Descamps, handily surpassed its estimate at $20,900.

Here's a link to the full artcle about the Merritt Collection Sale

Stumble It!

Exhibition from the British Toymakers Guild

From November 16th to December 3rd, 2006, the British Toymakers Guild returns to the.gallery@oxo, London, to show and sell hand-crafted automata, dolls, puzzles, games, puppets, hobby horses, wooden toys and more.

The work has been created by over 30 makers from all over the British Isles.

Here's the official TOYS@OXO web page

Stumble It!

Dug North - Santa Automaton on Display!

If you live in Massachusetts or New England or are planning on visiting the Boston area, you can see one of my automata in person. I've allowed the museum to let people turn the crank themselves.

My automton Training for Christmas featuring Santa Claus doing exercises, is on display at The Charles River Museum of Industry in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA. The exhibit shows automata through time and has a section featuring automata that visitors can operate. My piece is on display among a number of others by automata artists you may know, and some you may not know, but should.

The museum has lots of other things of interest to the mechanically-minded: engines, machine tools, pocket watches, bicycles, and a car from 1907!

Here's a link with contact information and directions to The Charles River Museum of Industry.

Stumble It!

Arthur Ganson Show in North Carolina

In case you missed the post on The Mechanical Blog last month, a gallery show of kinetic sculpture by Arthur Ganson began on November 4th in Charlotte, NC.

From the McColl Center for Visual Art web site:
Arthur Ganson creates contraptions composed of a range of materials from delicate wire to welded steel and concrete. Most are viewer-activated or driven by electric motors. All are driven by a wry sense of humor or a probing philosophical concept.

I've seen some of his work at MIT. It's really cool!

Here's the link to Machines and Mechanisms: Kinetic Sculpture by Arthur Ganson

Stumble It!

The Musee Mecanique

The Musee Mecanique in San Francisco is one of the world's largest privately owned collections of mechanically operated musical instruments and antique arcade machines. They also have automata!

Here are some photos taken by Jason Simpson.

Here is the official The Musee Mecanique site

Stumble It!